The
Urge to Collect
I realize that some people don’t like to acquire
things. They’re minimalists. I know a few people who have this type of
personality. Then there are those on the opposite end of the scale who save
everything. I guess you could call them maximalists (is that a word?), although hoarders would be
the correct term for a few who can’t bear to part with things that are so far
gone that they’re trash. I knew one person like that, and she needed
professional help.
I’m neither a minimalist nor a maximalist, but have a
personality somewhere in the middle. I’m a collector. I’m sure most adults
collect something, even if they don’t realize it. I don’t know where the urge
to collect comes from. We see something we like, something that’s attractive or
interesting, and decide we must have more. My sons collected state quarters,
old pennies, and foreign currency. My husband collected concert T-shirts when
we were dating, until I asked him to stop wearing black T-shirts every day. Now
he collects Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts from our travels, and likes to hold on to
his broken racquetball and squash racquets for a reason only he can fathom.
I grew up in libraries because my dad was a public
library director. We were a family of readers. I’ve always been drawn to
bookstores and libraries, so the urge to collect books seemed a logical pursuit.
At first I just wanted to have all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys I enjoyed
reading as a pre-teen. Tracking down those out-of-print books was a challenge,
but I was thrilled to find random copies at Goodwill, yard sales, or in used
bookstores. The hunt was more fun than the collections themselves. I was sad
when none of my kids showed an interest in my Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys
collections, and the books eventually went to a niece. I’ve collected other
books over the years -- science fiction and fantasy paperbacks, children’s and
YA books about adoption or China for my Chinese daughters, classical literature,
church books, and plenty of ‘how to fix’ manuals. Due to limited bookshelf
space, I’ve thinned my collection now and then, holding onto just the books I’d
want to read again. These days I don’t have an urge to buy more books, unless
it’s the newest illustrated Harry Potter.
Like most women, I collect clothes, but I’m careful
not to buy expensive things I know I’ll only wear once. I rarely dress up. I prefer
clothes that are versatile, what I’d term mix-and-match. So when I find an
article of clothing that’s comfortable, I buy it in every color offered. Gone
are the days when I owned something I really liked but found, to my chagrin,
that a replacement was unavailable. Now when I find jeans that fit me
perfectly, I buy five more pairs in assorted colors. Ditto for cardigans, since
I wear them to work. Ditto for capris, T-shirts, and shoes.
Oh, I should probably mention my shoe fetish. I
collect Vans. Yes, the checkerboard skateboard shoes making a resurgence in
popularity. I always wanted a pair when I was in high school, so when I started
substitute teaching in Cache county high schools and saw them on the students,
getting myself a pair seemed like a no-brainer. Yes, I’m fifty-four years old
and own five pairs of Vans, but I will resist buying more until some of them
wear out.
Over the years, I’ve gone through phases where I got
interested in something and collected a lot of it. I guess I should explain
that I have the type of personality where I’m not satisfied to know a little
something about lots of interesting topics. No, I learn a little something and
completely immerse myself in it. It’s not OCD. I’m not sure what you’d call it.
Am I tenacious or am I a glutton for punishment?
Here’s an example: I was interested in natural
childbirth with my first pregnancy and took childbirth classes. When my birth
experience was a train wreck -- emergency C-section after three days of
posterior labor -- I decided I must’ve done something wrong and needed to
educate myself. I educated myself until I became a certified childbirth
educator. Then I wanted to know more about breastfeeding and became a La Leche
League leader. I even thought about staying with that long enough to become a
certified lactation consultant. Then I became a certified birth doula, but
found that I couldn’t stand the smell of hospitals. Then I became interested in
adoption and had to know everything there was to know about it before we
brought our first daughter home from China. Yes, I go a bit overboard. No
‘passing interests’ for me.
This brings me back to my urge to collect. For the
past decade, my interests have been varied and relatively short-lived. Here’s
an example: essential oils. On the urging of a friend, I took an interest in
DoTerra oils. I tried a few and liked the results, so I got a book and started
learning how to use them. Hundreds of dollars later, I had an impressive
essential oil collection. I’ve been able to cure my acid reflux and help my
daughter-in-law manage her migraines, so I think it’s been a good investment. I
have oils that help me fall asleep and oils that soothe aching muscles, and I
still check my essential oils guidebook whenever a medical problem arises. But
now that I own all that I will ever use, I’ve moved on to other interests, such
as --
Food storage! Now that’s a practical thing to collect.
We’ve always had a few cases of flour, sugar, oats, rice, powdered milk, and
beans stashed away for emergencies. We use them and replace them as needed (see
LDS Home Storage Center online), but I never gave much thought to having to
survive off this stuff if SHTF (if you don’t know what that means, look it up).
We’ve always had a garden, and we buy extra cans of soup, tomato sauce, pastas,
and whatever at the grocery store or Costco, but one day a friend introduced me
to something I didn’t know much about: freeze-dried foods. She gave me a
catalog for a company called Emergency Essentials and I bought a few cans of
green peppers, which we still have. I was fascinated by the twenty-five year
shelf life, and decided that it would be wise to supplement our basic storage
with fruits, vegetables, meats, and other ingredients. EE had bulk or group
specials each month on assorted products, offering a large discount and free
shipping if you ordered more than twelve cans. I didn’t think I’d need twelve
cans of anything, so I spread the word to members of my congregation. My new
collection was launched.
For two years, I organized orders for EE with members
of my congregation. I felt sorry for the UPS man, who had to carry huge boxes
of number ten cans down our steep driveway every single month. I worked tirelessly
on our family’s collection, making sure we had some of every product EE
offered. I watched for things to hit the bulk/group special. I hovered online
for the Black Friday deals. I split orders with anyone who was interested.
About the time we moved to Utah, EE was bought out by
Augason Farms and their prices went way up. I tried to organize bulk/group
specials a few times with my new congregation, but couldn’t accept the higher
prices. I decided that this collection could rest for now. Since the Covid-19
insanity hit this year, I’ve been grateful I worked on my food storage
collection when I did. Now it’s difficult to find freeze-dried foods, and the
prices are insane.
Another collection: I like to sew, although I’m not
very good at it. However, when I stumbled across a selection of Harry Potter
fabrics in 2018, I renewed my interest in sewing. For two years, off and on,
when I wasn’t writing, I sewed Harry Potter quilts and pillows. I sold a few,
gifted a few, and gave away several. I’d like to say that that particular
collection has run its course, but I can’t make any promises. If I see a new
Harry Potter fabric the next time I go to Joann’s fabric store, all bets are
off.
My latest collection has taken a while to gain
momentum, but I’m currently fixated on it. A brief history of my Polish Pottery
collection: I had a good friend when we lived in Maryland (2001-2004) whose
husband was in the military, so they moved often. She had dishes that I admired,
and explained that she bought them in Poland when her husband was stationed in
Kosovo and the family lived in Germany. She would drive her minivan to the
factories in Poland and fill the vehicle with these gorgeous dishes. So when
our family traveled to Europe in 2008, I wanted to look for Polish Pottery. I
found a shop in Germany, where we were staying with my brother’s family, and
chose a few serving dishes. There were so many patterns that it was difficult
to make up my mind. I put these treasures in my carry-on to fly home. My
brother gave me another serving dish for Christmas one year after that. I
didn’t think much about my Polish Pottery until I discovered a few pieces in Marshall’s,
which I quickly bought. I didn’t mind that nothing matched. In fact, that’s the
beauty of Polish Pottery -- nothing needs to match.
When my husband agreed to let me buy new everyday
dishes for Christmas one year, because the ones we’d owned for twenty-nine
years were battered, chipped, and boring, I decided to buy Polish Pottery. I’m
a sucker for free shipping, so when I found Polish Pottery Outlet online, with
free shipping over $99, I was ecstatic. I started out with a few plates and
bowls, but I couldn’t settle for just eight of each. Our kitchen cabinets are now
packed with dishes in eight different patterns, and they’re all beautiful. I’ve
recently discovered several Polish Pottery Facebook groups, and I can’t stop
buying or trading with other obsessed collectors for new pieces. It’s like when
I was hunting for Nancy Drew books, although this is much more satisfying.
These are dishes, after all. We use them every day. They can go in the
dishwasher and oven. And they’re so bright and colorful that they make me smile.
My husband keeps asking if we have enough dishes, but I don’t know that I’ll
ever get tired of collecting Polish Pottery. There are half a dozen factories,
producing seven thousand different patterns. I’m already planning a trip to
Poland to visit those factories. We’ll see Auschwitz too, but mostly I want to buy
Polish Pottery.
What will I
collect next? Grandchildren are on my list, but first a few more of my kids
have to get married. We’ll see.
